A Major Announcement

March 25 is exactly nine months before Christmas.  And so, on March 25, this coming Monday, we celebrate the day that Mary became pregnant with Jesus, a feast in the Catholic Church known as the “Annunciation.”  The word “annunciation” is the noun form for the verb to “announce.”  You would think that this noun form might be “announcement” rather than “annunciation.”  But, I digress.  You also might ask the question, “Was something ‘announced’ on that day, or what?”  The answer is yes, it is the day we celebrate the fact that the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and “announced” to her that “the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”  See Luke 1:35.  The announcement was that she was to become the Mother of God.  A major announcement!

Some people object to the Catholic Church giving her the title “Mother of God.”  They say she is the mother of Jesus, yes, but not the Mother of God, since God is eternal, no beginning and no end.  They say that she did not become pregnant with God or give birth to God.  They say that no one can be called God’s mother.  I think confusion occurs because of the doctrine of the “Blessed Trinity.  The Blessed Trinity refers to the idea that there are three persons in the one God.  It is one of the great mysteries of our faith.  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, all three, are mentioned many times in the New Testament.  All three are God, and there is just one God.  The three are the three persons in the one God.  St. Patrick explained it by holding up a shamrock and pointing to three leaves on one stem.  But it is still a great mystery.

Since the Son, Jesus, is God, and since Mary conceived and gave birth to Jesus, one of her many titles should therefore indeed be the “Mother of God.”

The photograph accompanying this post is of the Annunciation painting found in the Basilica of the Holy Rosary in Lourdes, France.  The Annunciation is the first joyful mystery of the rosary, a wonderful point for reflection for us Catholics as we pray using this great sacramental, the rosary.  Happy Annunciation Day everyone!